CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Tom D'Amore delivering his opening statement
Portland, OR - An Oregon state court jury heard opening statements Thursday in a $200 million wrongful death lawsuit blaming a private security guard for shooting a man in a Lowe’s parking lot, and the full trial is being webcast and recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The wife of decedent Freddy Nelson Jr. sued a property management firm and their contracted private security company following the death of her husband in 2021. Kari Nelson alleges former private security guard Logan Gimbel, currently serving a life sentence after a second degree murder conviction over the incident, lacked proper training and supervision and needlessly escalated a dispute in the Lowe’s lot.
TMT maintains Gimbel and Cornerstone are responsible for the shooting, while Cornerstone argues Gimbel received adequate training and was working under a "zero tolerance policy" that TMT had for any illicit activity on their property.
During his statement on behalf of the Nelson family, attorney Tom D’Amore of D’Amore Law Group described to jurors how Gimbel shot Nelson through the windshield of his pickup truck while his wife sat in the passenger seat. He explained that at the time Nelson had an arrangement with a Lowe’s employee to pick up and recycle broken pallets, but that TMT and Cornerstone had a “zero tolerance policy” for any perceived trespassing.
D’Amore told jurors Nelson had numerous encounters with Cornerstone security in the lot leading up to the shooting, and that they previously tried to ban him from premises without justification. Nelson rebuffed their warnings, and on the day of the shooting Gimbel blocked Nelson’s pickup truck stacked with pallets and then sprayed pepper spray into the vehicle.
Nelson began to drive forward, and Gimbel fired four fatal shots through the truck’s windshield.
D’Amore argued there was no justification for Gimbel’s use of pepper spray, let alone a firearm, and that his actions were the result of Cornerstone’s alleged lack of de-escalation training, noting that while Cornerstone guards had tried to order Nelson off the lot numerous time prior to the incident that TMT never pursued any civil or criminal trespass charges against him.
"He wasn't a disruption. He wasn't causing harm. That's what you're going to see in the evidence of this case," D'Amore said, according to CVN’s webcast of the proceedings.
Defense attorney Sharon Collier of Freeman Mathis & Gary, representing TMT, told jurors during her opening statement that blame for the shooting, which she acknowledged as tragic, lay with Gimbel and Cornerstone.
She described the Lowe’s lot as a “a very challenging property” - maintaining it was frequently used for drug dealing and gang activity, along with being a frequent spot for shoplifting, and that TMT hired Cornerstone based on the lack of prior complaints against the security company and its positive reputation with nearby business owners.
Despite that she still placed blame for the incident on Cornerstone, explaining that while TMT had an obligation to comply with Lowe’s national policy which prohibited activities like Nelson’s pallet gathering - despite his supposed permission from a store employee - that TMT instructed Cornerstone guards not to engage with Nelson.
"If Cornerstone had done what the property manager requested, this wouldn't have happened," she said.
Representing Cornerstone, attorney CJ Martin of Malone Lauersdorf Reiner told jurors that while the company admitted negligence in Nelson’s death, that Gimbel passed the required background checks and training programs to work as an armed guard.
She cited TMT’s "zero tolerance policy” for illicit behavior on their property - a policy she argued Cornerstone met with skepticism due to Oregon regulations requiring police and security guards to use warnings and de-escalation tactics whenever possible.
The trial remains ongoing, and CVN’s gavel-to-gavel coverage will continue for the duration of the proceedings.
The case is captioned Nelson v. TMT Management Co., et al., case number 21CV40742 in Oregon’s Fourth Judicial District in Multnomah County.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com